Finally bit the bullet and ordered a nice 30" HDTV for my room

[BrokenVisage]

Woohoo! Couldn't pass up $350 for a Philips Widescreen HDTV, finally I'll be able to enjoy HD at my home instead of going to a friends place. I already know I have to buy a stand to accomidate it, but what else do I need so I can get help to just throw everything together once it gets here? I have a digital cable box but I'm not sure if I need a specific HD box to process the signal, does anyone know? The TV comes with a built in HD tuner so I won't need a separate one. I don't understand a thing about the HD inputs/outputs either, I assume they use those weird color ports like green and blue, and letters like P, Pb, and Pr, do I need special cables for these jacks? I really can't think of anything else so if I missed something please point it out and make recommendations on what's working for you. Thanks!

 

[bleeb]

nice.... pics when you get it mang.

 

[SagaLore]

Only $350? Have they really come that far down in price?

edit:
oh, it is still a CRT... didn't realize they made widescreen crts...

 

[BrokenVisage]

Originally posted by: SagaLore
Only $350? Have they really come that far down in price?

It's a refurb but from a reputible source around the net, I saw 16 in stock when I got to work and now it's down to 1! Here

 

[SLCentral]

Originally posted by: BrokenVisage
Woohoo! Couldn't pass up $350 for a Philips Widescreen HDTV, finally I'll be able to enjoy HD at my home instead of going to a friends place. I already know I have to buy a stand to accomidate it, but what else do I need so I can get help to just throw everything together once it gets here? I have a digital cable box but I'm not sure if I need a specific HD box to process the signal, does anyone know? The TV comes with a built in HD tuner so I won't need a separate one. I don't understand a thing about the HD inputs/outputs either, I assume they use those weird color ports like green and blue, and letters like P, Pb, and Pr, do I need special cables for these jacks? I really can't think of anything else so if I missed something please point it out and make recommendations on what's working for you. Thanks!

Okay, here goes. You do need a special HD box if you want to use cable, just call your cable company and they'll give you one, may cost a few bucks though. Since you have a HDTV tuner built-in, you don't NEED a set top box, but with it you get the menus, as well as premium channels if you subscribe. If you just use the cable (QAM), you'll get your local channels. You should also use DVI to connect the cable box, if possible. If not, use the component cables (the green, blue, and red ones). The cable company should give you them.

Those component cables are different then your regular yellow, red, and white cables. Instead of compressing all the video through one cable, it goes through three. The sound still travels through the same red/white cables. The quality over composite is enormous.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: BrokenVisage
experts instruct me on how to prepare for it's arrival

Download some HD-pr0n

- M4H

 

[lancestorm]

Get the AVIA GUIDE TO HOME THEATER dvd. It will help calibrate your tv to have even a better picture than standard factory default.